A Brief History of Thomas Aquinas College
(Summer 2001 Newsletter)
Marcus Berquist: Founder
Founding president Dr. Ronald McArthur often tells of an exchange
he once had with a student many years ago when the student
wanted to know who might have the answer to a very difficult
philosophical question. "Well, you'd go ask your bishop
for the answer," he replied.
"What if he doesn't know?"
"Then you'd ask the Pope."
"What if the Pope doesn't know?"
"Well, you'd have to ask God."
The student couldn't resist. "What if God doesn't know?"
"Then," said McArthur, "you'd ask Mr. Berquist!"
This apocryphal account well-describes the reputation College
founder Marcus Berquist has among so many of his students
and colleagues - astounding in his comprehension of Aristotle
and St. Thomas. Yet, for the soft-spoken, scholarly-looking
son of a farm equipment manufacturer from St. Paul, Minnesota,
it is a reputation from which he cringes. "I just happen
to love philosophy," he says.
Berquist can cite the exact moment when his interest in philosophy
was kindled. It was in his fifth year at Nazareth Hall, a
minor seminary of the St. Paul archdiocese, when he heard
the renowned Thomist, Dr. Charles de Koninck, who was visiting
from Universitéé Laval in Quebec, lecture on
the doctrine of Mary's bodily assumption into Heaven. "It
was the first time I had ever heard someone explain a doctrine
of faith that was derived from evidence and principles, rather
than simply state something which was an article of faith
or a teaching of the Church."
He followed his older brother, Dick, to the College of St.
Thomas (now St. Thomas) in St. Paul, studying philosophy and
graduating in 1956. He then went to Laval to study under de
Koninck who was to influence several eventual founders of
Thomas Aquinas College. There he acquired a life-long love
for Aristotle and St. Thomas. He obtained his licentiate in
philosophy in 1958, and while he completed all course work
necessary for a doctorate, he never produced his dissertation.
"I did not have the pressures married men have to finish
it. So I put it off."
Through de Koninck, Berquist was recruited to teach philosophy
at St. Mary's College, Moraga, where he met and befriended
McArthur, also a former de Koninck student. In 1963, when
changes in administration loomed on the horizon, the tenured
McArther urged the non-tenured Berquist to seek haven at Santa
Clara University. For three years then, he taught in its honors
program until McArthur urged him to return to St. Mary's.
When other administrative changes seemed more favorable. Joining
Berquist from Santa Clara was another Laval-trained philosophy
instructor and friend of McArthur's, Dr. John Neumayr.
From 1966 to 1968, Berquist and Neumayr (and McArthur) taught
at St. Mary's, until another change in administration left
Berquist and Neumayr out in the cold. With this set-back came
the chance to start anew. So the three philosophy professors,
and others, collaborated on forming a college of their own.
In the summer of 1968, Berquist and McArthur began drafting
the document that would become the founding document of Thomas
Aquinas College. Neumayr and McArthur set up shop at the Dominican
College at San Rafael where they revised the document and
made plans to implement it; Berquist went to the University
of San Diego to bide time until the College was up and running.
When the College opened in 1971, he commuted weekly to teach
part-time. He joined as a full-time tutor the following year
- just after having received tenure at USD.
But he gained more than just the opportunity to teach philosophy.
His wife Laura came from the ranks of new students at the
new College. They were married the summer after her graduation,
on his birthday and on what would have been his parents' 50th
wedding anniversary. Laura has since become a celebrated homeschooling
author and the founder of Mother of Divine Grace School, a
national homeschooling academy. Marcus and Laura have six
children, two of whom (John and Therese) graduated this year;
daughter Margaret graduated in 1978.
Interestingly, both of Berquist's brothers are recognized
Thomistic philosophers. His older brother, Dick, has spent
a large part of his teaching career at the University of St.
Thomas; his younger brother, Duane, teaches philosophy at
Assumption College. Both have been visiting lecturers at Thomas
Aquinas College.
Does Berquist continue to get new insights into Aristotle
and St. Thomas after all these years? "Oh, yes! I continue
to discover new things - things that I didn't know before,
and things that I thought were right before, but now I see
are wrong. The pursuit of knowledge is inexhaustible."
Lately, though, he has been drawn more to theology. "I
guess that's fitting," he says on reflection. "My
interest in philosophy started with the Assumption. Now, after
having spent all these years in philosophy, I find myself
using it to go back into doctrines like the Assumption."
Dare one ask what questions he has?
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